


Um, we're under the mistletoe...

by Amber_Flicker



Series: The Mistletoe [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mistletoe, implied coldflash, oh shit i can write fluff now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 10:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5537123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hartley didn’t know what to expect when Cisco invited him to the Christmas party. To be turned away at the door, to have people try and lock him up again, maybe even get beaten up.</p><p>But not this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Um, we're under the mistletoe...

Hartley didn’t know what to expect when Cisco invited him to the Christmas party. To be turned away at the door, to have people try and lock him up again, maybe even get beaten up.

He didn’t think he would be allowed inside (despite what Cisco said), no threats or weapons pointed at him. The most he got was some suspicious looks, but in general everyone was polite. He was a little uncomfortable, especially with this- alternate universe Wells? What? - but it was better than being alone in an unfamiliar place. He gave a few baking tips in the kitchen- he _could_ cook, wandered a bit, finally seated himself on a chair with some eggnog in hand. 

There were a few people who he hadn’t met, and he doubted he’d been mentioned to them, so he striked up a short-lived conversation with Iris, one of the few people who hadn't been around when he'd done what he did. There was a clatter in the kitchen, and she groaned, apologized to Hartley, and left to fix whatever mess Barry had caused. 

He strategically avoided Wells (because even if he wasn’t _that wells,_ he didn’t want to be around him.) 

“So, um… How have you been?” Caitlin had come up beside him, awkward, not really knowing how to approach him.

“As well as can be expected when your life is destroyed.” He said bitterly, then corrected himself as she winced. Now wasn't the time. “I’m fine. I heard about Ronnie dying. How are you coping?” He looked at her, and she seemed surprised he was being so decent, but he knew what it was like to lose someone you loved- even if for him it hadn’t been caused by death. 

“I try not to think about it.” A heavy silence stretched between them, and Hartley was content to leave it at that, but obviously she wasn’t. “So how did Cisco end up inviting you? Not that that’s bad! It’s just... weird.”

“We ran into eachother at the grocery store.”

“Oh. I wouldn’t have thought you’d accept invitations to Christmas parties. You just don’t seem like the party type.” Not to mention who invited you, she was implying. 

“I didn’t want to be alone.” Brutal honesty, he thought.

“Fair enough.” She left him alone after that.

He made his way to the corner he’d spotted Joe West, alone. The man looked a little wary, because if he didn’t that would be odd, Hartley had pretty much tried to murder his son, but he didn’t move away. “…Thanks for not, you know, shooting me or something. That would have made a lot more sense than just letting me join your party but I appreciate you giving me a chance.” He wasn’t used to saying thank you for things, but he wasn’t a complete asshole and he did have manners drilled into his head somewhere.

West considered that for a minute. “I don’t forgive what you did, but you had a reason and it turned out to be right. You haven’t done anything since then and if you did try anything, there’s a bunch of people in this room who could easily take you down.” And yes, he knew that. He had no weapons and physical strength.. Well, it wasn’t his forte. 

“I don’t plan on it. I just wanted some semblance of a normal holiday.”

“It’s none of my business, but you do have a place to stay?”

“I do.” The conversation ended with a single satisfied nod from the detective, and he decided to check out what was going on in the kitchen, because he didn’t trust these people not to burn the house down. He looked in through the doorway so he didn’t get in the middle of anything. Two batches of cookies were already sitting on the counter and a row of them were gone. Iris was scolding Barry, so he assumed that’s where the cookies went. Cisco was setting the timer for whatever else was in the oven.

“I didn’t know you were the one doing the baking.”

“I’m not, I’m just keeping track of what everyone else is making.” 

_“Don’t bring my boyfriend into this!!”_ Barry shouted at Iris from the other side of the kitchen. Hartley gave them a look, but they were too busy bickering to notice.

Cisco moved away from the two, coming up beside him. “No one’s bothering you, right? I can talk to them if they ar-” 

“No, it’s all fine. I didn’t expect everyone to actually be civil-”

“Oh no, you don’t get to lecture me. I made these cookies, if I say not to eat them you don’t eat them!”

“Maybe we should bring this conversation elsewhere.” Cisco suggested. He agreed, because blocking the door wasn’t ever a smart idea anyway. 

“Wait!” They both stopped, looking at Barry, who had stopped arguing and, along with Iris, was looking above them with some sort of awed expression. “You can’t just _move.”_

“Why not?” Hartley asked, but stopped when he finally tried to see what they were staring at. Damn.

“Nuh-uh, no way.” Cisco objected.

“Definitely not. You’ve got to be joking.” 

_“You can’t disobey the mistletoe.”_ …These people were nuts. These people were nuts and Hartley had thought it was a good idea to come to this party. What was so special about a plant and why did it dictate that he had to kiss someone? One Christmas thing he could do without.

“I’m not kissing him.”

He said it so vehemently that Hartley felt offended. “It wouldn’t be that awful. You make it sound like it’s the end of the world.”

“Wouldn’t it be?”

“Am I really _that_ unattractive to you?”

Cisco flushed. “Well, no! But you hate me.”

“Obviously not, I came to this party with you.”

_“The mistletoe.”_

“Will you stop that?!” Hartley snapped at the two crazy, mistletoe-obsessed observers. But when he turned back to Cisco he was shut up before he could continue arguing- and his brain stopped working. Cisco was kissing him. He stood there in shock until the other pulled back. Then he stood there some more, finally managing to ask, “What… What was that?” Because he’d short circuited and why did Cisco kiss him?

“Can’t disobey the mistletoe.” Cisco was grinning at him and yes, all these people were crazy, but he was starting to like them anyway.

“I ship it.” Iris whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> A stupid ficlet I wrote up in a couple hours based on some tumblr posts and I didn't have time to do lots of editing because I couldn't wait until after Christmas to post it. Let's not even get into how atrocious the writing is and the fact that they're probably all OOC.
> 
> (Post this is based off of is here: http://cliches-and-coffee.tumblr.com/post/135856056224/that-pumpkinspicewhitegirl-crimsondomingo... which directs you to my blog too, so I won't bother with extra links.)


End file.
